ONE DAY, A HORN GREW FROM MY HEAD
Jaewon squinted, hand shielding her eyes from the sunlight poking through the dense treecover of the deep forest. At this point they were way off of the path through the park, stepping through mud and dirt, and she could distantly hear the sound of running water from the river nearby. Her legs ached like no tomorrow, having hiked about an hour from the last Fairmount SEPTA stop, which they'd taken from 8th and Market, and she'd sweated through her short-sleeve shirt to the point that it was sticking to her.
"Jae-Jae," Dara huffed from behind her, clutching her water bottle. "How much longer do we have to walk?"
"I think we're done walking," Jaewon replied, looking around at her surroundings.
It was quiet, and the last person they saw was about a mile away at this point. Plus it was the middle of the day, so no one was really walking except for children and the unemployed (Dara fell into this category). It was perfect for what she was about to do.
After Dara got called in for a solo-ish mission, it made Jaewon realize that she needed to get her ass in gear in terms of her cursed technique. Normally, she wouldn't give a fuck about a job she got forced into doing, but her friend almost getting decapitated was a hell of a wakeup call.
Right now, as it was, her technique was absolutely pitiful. Two dogs, a dragon that doesn't want to come out, and about a hundred rabbits are not enough to be on the same level as her friends, even if she was getting good results in the required marksmanship training, and she could hold her own in hand-to-hand. What's the point of this immense power if her shadow guys suck balls?
Jaewon pulled out her phone, scrolling to the notes app. She'd went on hundreds of Wikipedia articles, Reddit threads, blogs about Korean mythology, and even haggled her mom at the cafe to aggregate a list of possible shadow creatures. Today, she was just going to do one, because of the potential cursed energy cost of it all, plus the risk of injuring herself or Dara.
So, which one will it be…? What shadow would be most useful for her, but the easiest to tame? Dokkaebi will probably be the hardest to tame, same with the Bulgasari and Gumiho… Her eyes flickered to the last one she wrote down, 'bonghwang', the phoenix. That'd be useful. Fire bird, she'd be able to incinerate curses and fly using it. The fire might be a problem taming it, but she'll manage.
She sighed, cracking her neck twice. Dara stepped back, readying herself as Jaewon moved her hands in place. Her thumbs wrap together, imitating a bird flapping its wings as she called it forth.
Her shadow shifted, churned, and from it, a gigantic orange bird emerged from it, wings outstretched. The large black crest on its head brushed against some of the leaves and branches, an odd one that seemed to curl around its face almost like bangs, its reddish-orange eyes staring down at the two as it slowly began to settle, its peacock-like tail shifting behind it.
Jaewon stood silently, staring up at it with wide eyes. It didn't seem hostile, like it was going to attack her like those fucking rabbits did with her. Maybe it was a trick…? Fuck it. She knelt down on the ground in front of it, bowing her head.
"Hey, uh," Jaewon started in Korean, before grimacing and shaking her head, bangs falling into her eyes. "Let me start that over, actually."
"O' great phoenix. I need your assistance…"
The bird just sat, staring at Jaewon. Its head tilted to the side, blinking, but didn't make a move to attack her.
Jaewon took a breath, then continued.
"There's people, out there, who want to prey on the weak. Sorcerers and non-sorcerers alike. Something… bad's gonna happen in that weird sorcerer world that could put a lot of people in danger, and I know you can help me to protect those who really need protecting."
Jaewon shut her eyes tight.
"So please… fight alongside me."
After a moment of silence, where Jaewon honestly expected for talons in her face, she slowly opened her eyes. The phoenix was still sitting down, staring at her, until it stood, and slowly walked forward. It stopped right in front of Jaewon, before closing its eyes, bending its long orange neck towards her until its head rested right in front of her. Something in Jaewon, almost instinctual, told her that it was its way of accepting their partnership. Like how the rabbits had flocked to her after fighting a couple of rounds with the Divine Dogs, climbing all over her.
So, she leaned over, until its head touched her forehead. The phoenix was pleasantly warm against her skin, both a comfort and a warning of its true power.
"Thank you," Jaewon replied, and the bird silently sunk back into the shadows.
Slowly, she stood up, brushing herself off. Her chest was light, as if some rock dislodged from it and fell, freeing her. A smile began to creep its way onto her face.
"Jae-Jae!" Dara exclaimed, hands on her hips. "I thought you said that taming your shadows was hard, the fuck was that?! You liar!"
"I'm sorry, okay?" Jaewon said, a smile still threatening to show itself. "I guess this one just wanted me to talk to it, I dunno…"
"You told me, 'ohhhh Dara I need to get another shadow so I can fight better, but I'm so scared that it'll kill me-"
"I was scared!"
"'Please can you take time out of your busy day of flirting with your beautiful girlfriend and slaying on Valorant to help me?' Then I hike all the way over to the middle of fucking Fairmount Park with you when its hot as hell out, and you fucking tame it using the power of friendship or because you're true of heart or some bullshit! There wasn't even a hint of a fight, let alone your life being at risk! You owe me big time!"
"Yeah, you're right," Jaewon sighed, rubbing her face. "Fuck it, why don't we go back, grab some chicken, then wrangle Ryan into a day at the PC cafe when he's off of work?"
In a flash, Dara's scowl changed into an almost radiant smile, and she snaked her arm through Jaewon's elbow.
"Well, why didn't you say so earlier, Jaewon!" Dara said, rubbing the top of Jaewon's sweaty head. "Come on, let's go! Plus, I can get more steps on my Fitbit…"
"Argghhh! Jaewon you suck!" Dara shouted, slamming her fist on the keyboard. "Stop it!"
Jaewon rubbed her chin, looking at the crumpled body of her character on the screen as gunshots rung out through her headphones as the enemy team approached. Soon, Ryan got picked off and the team collapsed into a loss. Dara ripped her headphones off of her head, and leaned her head back against the rest, face scrunched.
"My god, what is with you and that damn Ares?" Dara huffed, crossing her arms and looking over at Jaewon as the screen flashed 'LOSS' in big red letters. "You refuse to buy anything else! Pick another gun!"
"I dunno," Jaewon replied, clicking through her results. "I like how it feels. Like you don't have to worry about missing."
"Whatever, and you!" Dara exclaimed, pointing to Ryan. "You cannot fucking position yourself to save your own goddamn life! You were half of our teams deaths because you got caught out! Come on!"
"Who-o-o cares," Ryan huffed, lip curled. "This isn't real life, you moron. Or has unemployment rotted your brain out to the point that you think it is?"
"Of course it's not real!" Dara hissed back, her eyes glancing back at the PC cafe attendant, an younger man who was now glaring at the three. "But, think about it like this, if you position yourself better in Valorant, you'll know how to position yourself in a battle!"
"Are you insane?!" Ryan replied, his eyes wide. "I'm not going to be on a case like 'oh Dara they're going mid', 'oh Jaewon they're all going A long in that apartment building'. You are out of your damn mind if you think I'm gonna do Valorant call outs in the real fucking world!"
"Guys, please," Jaewon said, holding her hands up. "Any more and I think that attendant's gonna come in to kick us out. One more match?"
"Fine, one more," Ryan sighed, sitting up in his seat. "Then we're getting fried chicken. Like you promised."
"Play like you actually mean it this time!" Dara hissed, and Ryan simply rolled his eyes as the queue began.
As the queue ran on and on, Jaewon's mind began to wander. In the distance, she could hear the conversations and the shouting of the kids around them. Some of them probably went to the same school as they did, maybe even were the brothers and sisters or cousins of the kids they graduated with.
She wonders if their families know how much they seem to need to hit their vapes, judging by the disgustingly sweet odor permating the room. It made her nose crinkle.
Shaking her head, Jaewon flicks onto the 'agent' selection screen, looking over a few of them, reading the brief biographies provided. All of them were soldiers or bounty hunters, given mystical powers and contracted by this powerful organization to work with them or else. A lot like her own life.
Maybe, Dara was right, trying to relate Valorant to their work. A little.
Work… Jaewon's eyes closed as she leaned back in her chair. She'd gotten the first few paychecks recently after a bit of bank trouble, and nearly lost her mind seeing the money pop in. It was enough to cover rent and utilities for nearly a year, and then some. And, she didn't have to withdraw half and keep it in a safe under her bed. Now, she could understand why people sought those jobs out, even if it meant doing sleazy, underhanded shit.
In her case, that money was a contract. 'If you destroy this society of wizard people, we will make sure that you will live comfortably for the rest of your life, and never face charges'.
But what about her soul? Could she forgive herself if she destroyed the lives of people who did nothing wrong? How does she know that the people they've been pitted against are truly evil, like their handlers insist? Sure, Dara said the dude she was sent to arrest was certifiably off his rocker, but he seemed to be radicalized by something else, one of the many things that seemed to drive such people to insanity, at least from her view. And then he got his head blown off, but who knows if this jujutsu society has anything to do with it.
Then again, deep down, something felt wrong about them too. Why were James and Haoyu sent on that suicide mission that killed their classmates? Why were the kids at that hotel sent on a very similar mission, to a curse that by all accounts was artificially created? Why wasn't she allowed into their world with her technique?
Jaewon sighed again, opening her eyes. Maybe she just needs to be a good doggie. A good doggie that doesn't question her orders, and attacks on command.
"Match found," the announcer called out, freeing Jaewon from her thoughts. She hit the accept button once, and prepared herself for the game.
authors notes:
chapter title is from txt's crown (어느날 머리에서 뿔이 자랐다)
ngl i based the phoenix (bonghwang) heavy on osamu tezukas manga of the same name lol
short one before the PAIN TRAIN LOL